A lifeboat was first stationed here in 1835, but after a period of decline, the boat was no longer fit for purpose. A new station was opened by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1858.[1]
The loss of a Coastguard boat and six crew in 1834 prompted a local fund to be set up, raising £81, and a lifeboat was provided in 1835, built locally by Thwaite and Winter. There are no records of any service, and by 1851, the boat was deemed to be unfit.[1]
The loss of another boat and crew off Hastings in October 1857 prompted local residents to place a request with the RNLI, that a lifeboat be placed at Hastings. This was agreed, and an order was placed with Forrestt of Limehouse, London to build a 30-foot self-righting lifeboat, costing £161. A carriage was ordered, and a new boat house was commissioned at Rock-a-Nore, constructed by local builder Edwin Harman, at a cost of £137-10s. All costs were funded locally.[3]
The lifeboat arrived in Hastings on Monday 5 April 1858, along with a carriage and her equipment, all transported free of charge by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company. She was drawn on her carriage by a team of horses, and paraded through the streets of Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea to the boathouse, where she was named Victoria by the Mayor. Mr. T. S. Hyde was appointed Honorary Secretary, and Charles Picknell to be Coxswain.[3]
Victoria only served Hastings for 5 years, as she was found to be too small for the conditions encountered. In 1863, she was transferred to Palling in Norfolk, where she served for the following 18 years. Hastings were provided with a replacement unnamed boat, previously a 30-foot 10-oared Self-righting boat stationed at Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire). She was modified for Hastings by Forrestt and extended to 36-foot 4inches (12-oared), arriving on 7 August 1863, and again transported free of charge by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company. In 1867, she was named Ellen Goodman in acknowledgment of the bequest of Miss E. Goodman, of Eversholt, Bedfordshire.[3]
On her last service at Hastings, Ellen Goodman was launched on 18 February 1879, to the aid of the schoonerApollo, on passage from London, United Kingdom to Cette, Hérault, France, with a cargo of currants. Five crew were rescued when she ran aground and was wrecked near 'Rock-a-Nore'.[4]
Hastings was one of the first stations to receive one of the small fast D-class (RFD PB16) (D-21) inshore lifeboats in 1964. As was common at the time, the use of the inshore boat was seasonal, and so followed a succession of boats each year until one was permanently placed on service in 1975, a D-class (Zodiac III) (D-226).[2]
A new Mersey-class lifeboat was assigned to the station in 1989. She was funded by bequests from Dr. William Murphy and Mrs. Dorothy Kellet, and from a special promotion run by Sealink British Ferries, costing £498,625. At a ceremony on 21 September 1989, she was named 12-002 Sealink Endeavour (ON 1125) by HRH The Duke of Kent, President of the RNLI.[1]
Richard Colton Ferrari
In 2015, the RNLI received the most valuable items ever left to the Institution in a single legacy. In a most extraordinary bequest, the RNLI received two rare Ferrari cars from the estate of the late Richard Colton, businessman. Both were sent to auction:
This has funded two Shannon-class lifeboats, the first being assigned to Hastings in 2018, 13-28 Richard and Caroline Colton (ON 1335).[5]
In 2018, photographer Jack Lowe made images of the lifeboat and crew at Hastings Lifeboat Station using his Edwardian plate-glass camera. An image of Sloane Phillips, Deputy Second Coxswain, has been accessioned into the collection at the Royal Maritime Museum at Greenwich.[6]
Notable rescues
On 31 March 1943, Hastings lifeboat Cyril and Lilian Bishop (ON 740) was called to the aid of H.M. Trawler Caulonia, stranded off Jury's Gap, 10 miles east of Hastings, in a WSW gale, with rough seas and heavy swell. All kinds of obstacles had to be removed from the beach following Defence work. The lifeboat was eventually run down the beach just as an enormous wave hit, and the boat was flung back on the beach. Finally the boat was launched, and made to the Caulonia. 17 men had already left in a liferaft. With wreckage all around, Coxswain Muggeridge managed to bring the lifeboat alongside for 30 minutes while the remaining seven crew were rescued. For this service, Coxswain John Muggeridge and Motor Mechanic William Hilder were both awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal. Only days after the rescue, Muggeridge was killed when his fishing boat hit a sea mine, and Hilder died in an air raid two months later.[3]
↑ 35ft 6in Self-righting motor lifeboat, built by J. Samuel White of Cowes, with single 35 hp Weyburn petrol-engine, giving 7.25 knots.
↑ 35ft 6in Self-righting motor lifeboat, built by Groves and Guttridge, with twin 18 hp Weyburn petrol-engines, giving 7.25 knots, and costing £11,283.
Walmer Lifeboat Station is located on The Strand on Walmer promenade, in the county of Kent.
Blyth Lifeboat Station is located at the Port and seaside town of Blyth, in the south east corner of the county of Northumberland, approx. 13 miles (21 km) north of Newcastle upon Tyne.
The Mumbles Lifeboat Station is at Mumbles Pier, located at the south-western corner of Swansea Bay, near the village of Mumbles, within the city and county of Swansea, in the historic county of Glamorgan, Wales.
Pwllheli Lifeboat Station is located in the town of Pwllheli, which sits on the Llŷn Peninsula, in the historic county of Gwynedd, Wales.
Moelfre Lifeboat Station is located in the village of Moelfre, on the north east coast of Anglesey, Wales.
Barmouth Lifeboat Station is located in Barmouth, a town at the mouth of the Afon Mawddach river in Gwynedd, Wales. A lifeboat was first stationed here by the Royal National Institute for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS) in 1828.
Ramsey Lifeboat Station is located on Queens Promenade, in the town of Ramsey, on the Isle of Man, a British Crown Dependency.
Blackpool Lifeboat Station is located in-between the North and Central Piers on the promenade in the town of Blackpool in Lancashire. A lifeboat was first stationed in Blackpool by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1864.
Thurso Lifeboat Station is located at Scrabster Harbour, in the NE corner of Scotland, near the town of Thurso, Highland, in the historic county of Caithness. A lifeboat was first stationed here by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1860.
Fleetwood Lifeboat Station is located on The Esplanade at the port of Fleetwood, a Lancashire town at the north end of The Fylde, situated at the mouth of the River Wyre.
Buckie Lifeboat Station is located in the town of Buckie, Moray, on the Moray Firth coast of NE Scotland. A lifeboat was first stationed here by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1860.
Clacton-on-Sea Lifeboat Station is located on Hastings Avenue, in the seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea, on the Tendring peninsular, in the county of Essex.
Palling Lifeboat Station was located at the town of Palling, on the north-east coast of Norfolk.
Fraserburgh Lifeboat Station is located at the harbour town of Fraserburgh, in the NE corner of Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Boulmer Lifeboat Station is a former Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station, which was located at the village of Boulmer in the county of Northumberland.
Tynemouth Lifeboat Station is located on the River Tyne, at Fish Quay, North Shields, in the county of Tyne and Wear.
Cullercoats Lifeboat Station is located on the north side of Cullercoats Harbour, in the town of Cullercoats, North Tyneside, in the county of Tyne and Wear.
Seahouses Lifeboat Station is located in the village of Seahouses, in the county of Northumberland.
Arbroath Lifeboat Station is located at the harbour town and former royal burgh of Arbroath, on the North Sea coast, 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Dundee, in Angus, Scotland.
Dungeness Lifeboat Station is located on Dungeness Road, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south-east of the town of Lydd, on the cuspate foreland of Dungeness, on the Kent coast.
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Royal National Lifeboat Institution 
